Darwin veteran Annette Rudd on her visit to Gallipoli

A Darwin veteran had a “once in a lifetime” experience of commemorating Anzac Day on the very shores of where the legacy started. Read her impression.

Darwin woman and veteran Annette Rudd spent Anzac Day on the shores of the Gallipoli in 2025.

A Darwin veteran had a “once in a lifetime” experience of commemorating Anzac Day on the very shores of where the legacy started.

Former signaller and radio operator Annette Rudd is a third-generation soldier in her family and, for seven years, proudly wore the uniform, including on deployments in Afghanistan and Malaysia.

This year, the Territorian was offered a unique opportunity to witness a Dawn Service at the very place the ANZAC legend was born.

“DVA offered the opportunity to three veterans and a family member to assist their commemorative services team to deliver the dawn service in Türkiye and France,” she told the NT News.

“And I was selected as one of the veteran volunteers to help deliver the service in Gallipoli.”

The site of more than 250,000 casualties, Gallipoli is revered as sacred by many Australians - including Ms Rudd.

“I think it’s one of those pilgrimages,” she said.

“It was incredible to connect at Anzac Cove and to feel those emotions and see the location.”

Ms Rudd described the site as ‘impeccable’.

Asked what caught her eye the most, Ms Rudd said the Turkish Government’s care for the site stood out.

“It’s impeccable - they care about it so much,” she said.

“They have soldiers killed there as well and so it is one, big gravesite.”

The sheer size of the hills and ridges also left an impression.

“It would have been very confronting,” she said.

“There’s little cemeteries dotted everywhere.

“Their names and ages are listed and it makes you realise how young these men were.”

Turkish prisoners following the Battle of Lone Pine - a battleground also visited by Ms Rudd. Picture: Supplied.

Keen to pack in as much as possible, Ms Rudd trekked uphill to Lone Pine - a famous battleground which claimed thousands of lives within a few short, bloody days.

“Again, you just get this sense of the place and peninsula,” she said.

“The terrain that these men were fighting in...”

For those contemplating a trip across the planet, Ms Rudd endorsed Anzac Cove as a ‘must-see’.

“Absolutely do it, it is one of those once-in-lifetime bucket list items that will stay with you forever,” she said.

“The Dawn Service is especially incredible to be a part of.”